OCZ is working on yet another member of the Vector SSD lineup, the Vector 180. Techpowerup managed to spot it at the Computex 2014 floor and score some pictures of the PCB as well as some details regarding the expected performance of the new SSD.

The upcoming Vector 180 will be a high-end 2.5-inch consumer SSD based on OCZ-Indilinx Barefoot 3 M00 series controller which will be paired up with Toshiba's 19nm MLC NAND. According to OCZ, the new Vector 180 will pack quite a few features which will also make it suitable for entry-enterprise markets as well.

The first PCB pictures of the OCZ Vector 180 show LPDDR3 cache as well as a power-outage mitigating logic part which will finish all current read and write operations if it senses a power outage or unstable power, which should prevent data loss.

According to first informations, the upcoming Vector 180 SSD will be available in capacities of up to 960GB and offer sequential transfer speeds of up to 550MB/s with 4K random performance will be at up to 100,000 IOPS.

Hopefully, the OCZ Vector 180 official release is not far away and we will hear more about it soon.

OCZ has launched a new member of its Vertex SSD lineup, the Vertex 450. To be available in 128, 256 and 512GB capacities, the new Vertex 450 uses an Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller an 20nm NAND.

Compared to the Barefoot 3 controller that we had a chance to see with OCZ's Vector SSD, the new Barefoot 3 M10 can be considered as the tweaked version that also adds AES-256 encryption and power-optimized clock generator that allowed OCZ to come up with a power/cost optimized solution for the mainstream market.

This Barefoot 3 M10 controller paired up with 20nm NAND adds up to impressive sequential performance, high IOPS and long term sustained performance across all file types, claims OCZ. The new Vertex 450 uses a similar 7mm 2.5-inch chassis that we have seen with the Vector SSD and will offer sequential read and write performance of up to 540MB/s and 530MB/s while 4K random read and write performance is at up to 90,000 and 85,000 IOPS.

The 256GB version offers only slightly lower sequential write performance of up to 525MB/s while the rest is the same as on the 512GB model. The 128GB one on the other hand offers slightly lower sequential read and write of up to 525MB/s and 290MB/s while 4K random read and write are set at 75,000 and 70,000 IOPS.

As it was the case with Vector SSD, this one also comes bundled with Acronis cloning software and is backed by a 3-year warranty. The new Vertex 450 SSD lineup should be available pretty soon with MSRP set at US $129.99 for the 128GB one, US $234.99 for the 256GB and US $499.99 for the 512GB model.

We managed to get our hands on OCZ's current SSD flagship, the Vector and pit it against Corsair's top offer in a clash of titans.

Since it launched late last year, the OCZ Vector has been getting nothing but words of praise, mostly thanks to the company's first in-house controller, the Indilinx Barefoot 3. When it comes to Vector, that same controller was paired up with 25nm IMFT synchronous NAND flash and DDR3L-1600 DRAM chip for cache.

The controller itself is actually a combination of an unnamed ARM Cortex core paired up with OCZ Aragon co-processor. The flash controller with randomizer, ECC Engine and NAND ONFI/Toggle interface is connected to the NAND array via 8-channel and uses DDR2/3 DRAM controller. It also comes with a SATA 6Gbps controller.

Although OCZ already used Indilinx controller before on its quite famous Vertex 4 SSD, the Vector is the first drive that uses in-house designed controller. The new Barefoot 3 controller is actually the result of a combined effort between engineers that OCZ got from the PLX acquisition, those that came with Indilinx acquisition and guys that already were with OCZ from before.

OCZ also made some quite impressive promises dealing with high reliability, high endurance, high performance and most importantly sustained performance, but we’ll get to those a bit later. According to OCZ, the quality, reliability and stability were the number one priority, thus the 5-year warranty does not come as a surprise.

The Vector’s PCB is placed in a 7mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor case and although it does not really have any influence on performance it looks differently than what we got used to expect from an SSD. The exact dimensions are set at 99.7x69.75x7mm and it weighs 115g.

The Vector SSD is available in 128, 256 and 512GB and as it was the case with previous SSDs, those with lower capacities also suffer from lower performance. The feature list includes TRIM, Idle Time Garbage Collection, SMART support, as well as a 256-bit AES-compliant and ATA Security Mode for data encryption.

The 256GB unit is luckily the same as the 512GB model when it comes to performance. Both deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 550MB/s and 530MB/s, while random 4k read and write are set at an impressive 100k IOPS and 95k IOPS.

The OCZ Vector comes packed in a rather simple but quite informative box that, in addition to the actual Vector SSD also includes a 3.5-inch SSD adapter for desktops, “I love my SSD” sticker and Acronis True Image HD cloning software activation key.

Earlier this year we had a chance to check out Corsair’s Neutron GTX flagship SSD and since we are currently working on a more comprehensive SSD review, the Corsair was reviewed the EVGA X79 FTW motherboard, a temporary solution since we are switching to a Z77-based system and a review that will include few other high-end SSDs as well as some more tests.

The Vector 256GB SSD was for that actually reviewed on Shuttle’s XPC system, kindly provided by Shuttle Europe, that is based on the Z77-chipset which proved as a decent one and gave comparable results.

Of course, all results will be updated and included with the upcoming full review with all the other SSDs and for now we just wanted to see how it performs against Corsair’s Neutron GTX 240GB SSD.

Compressible data is data that shrinks in size when lossless compression is applied, opposite to incompressible data which does not does not shrink or grow in size when compression is applied.

As you can see below, ATTO Disk benchmark certainly favors the OCZ Vector, especially when it comes to reading and writing smaller files which is something that OCZ has been quite proud of. The maximum performance tops out at an impressive 559MB/s for read and up to 554MB/s for write which are definitely the most impressive results we have seen so far in this product class.

Corsair’s Neutron GTX certainly holds its ground, but still loses to the Vector in both maximum speed as well as performance with smaller files.

The AS SSD sequential benchmark, which uses incompressible data for all of its transfers, illustrates performance nicely. Controllers that use on-the-fly compression for example will show big drop in sequential write speed when handling incompressible data.

In AS SSD benchmark the situation is pretty much the same and although Corsair’s Neutron GTX squeezes some impressive performance OCZ Vector simply has superior maximum performance both in read and write scenarios.

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 confirms what we had a chance to see previously in the AS SSD benchmark, as we only had some trouble with the 4K QD32 write performance but with such impressive results across the board it is obvious that OCZ/Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller does an incredible job.

OCZ Vector 256GB CrystalDiskMark results

Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB CrystalDiskMark results

Real world performance is usually much more important than the actual synthetic benchmarks and in our upcoming SSD feature we intend to pay a lot more attention to it, with some copy-to-and-from benchmark situations.

For now we’ll have to settle with what PCMark7 and Anvil's Data Storage Utility benchmarks.

PCMark 7 scores for the Vector ar pretty much on par with Corsair Neutron GTX as despite scoring a bit higher we see pretty much close results across the board.

Anvil Storage Utilities simulates a real usage scenario and although Corsair slightly squeezes ahead, according to our test, mostly due to higher 4K QD16 result, OCZ gets back in the game with its superior write performance easing ahead in the total score.

OCZ can be really proud of the Vector. It is a real success, at least from what we had a chance to see in our tests. OCZ certainly had a lot on its hands as Vertex 4 was a good SSD to start with and trying to top that while making promises of high reliability, high endurance, high performance and sustainable performance certainly were not easy.

OCZ needed a good competitor to go against Samsung 840 Pro as you can see from various testing around the net and what we are quite sure that we will see that once we make our big SSD roundup review, it certainly did a good job.

With its first in-house Barefoot 3 controller it can only get better and we surely can’t wait to see what the future will bring. All those acquisitions certainly paid off and there has been a lot of talk regarding the upcoming Barefoot 3 pairing with 20nm MLC which can only bring more competitive and most importantly, more wallet friendly solid-state drives.

Price-wise the Vector gained some value momentum as OCZ now offers Far Cry 3 with every Vector SSD model. In the States, the Vector currently sells for US $149.99, $269.99 and $549.99 for the 128, 256 and 512GB versions. Its direct competitor, the Samsung 840 Pro, sells for around US $149.99, US $239.99 and US $519.99 for the 128, 256 and 512GB models, depending on the retailer/e-tailer and discounts. The Corsair Neutron GTX on the other hand is a bit cheaper and still offers impressive value at US $129.99, $199.99 and US $409.99 for 120, 240 and 480GB models.

In Europe the situation is pretty much similar, as an OCZ Vector can be found with an average lowest price set at €120, €210 and €445 for the 128, 256 and 512GB models, while Samsung 840 Pro breaths down its neck with pretty similar prices depending on the region or the retailer/e-tailer. The Corsair Neutron GTX also offers some impressive value in Europe as well priced at around €110, €190 and €420 for 120, 240 and 480GB models.

As many before us pointed out, OCZ’s main problem is the price and although fixed a bit with Far Cry 3 bundle it is still a bit on the high side. The high-end solid-state drives are still too expensive for an average consumer but the prices are getting more and more reasonable.

We are certainly looking forward to what OCZ has in store with the future of its Barefoot 3 controller and 20nm MLC NAND chips will certainly bring an interesting twist to the market.

OCZ has finally released its newest Vector Series of solid state drives, based on Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller, rather than the now standard Sandforce controller.

Available in 128, 256 and 512GB capacities and standard 2.5-inch, 7mm ultra-slim form factor, the new Vector SSD Series uses the Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller paired up with MLC NAND chips and SATA 6Gbps interface. OCZ decided that the new Vector Series is quite good enough to be called "a groundbreaker" in performance, reliability, efficiency and endurance.

With up to 95k IOPS in random 4k read and up to 100k IOPS in random 4k write it certainly has enough punch to be quite a performance groundbreaker. The 128GB version can deliver 550MB/s sequential read and 400MB/s sequential write performance, as well as 90k IOPS of 4k random write and 95k of 4k random read performance.

The 256GB and 512GB versions both feature the same 550MB/s of sequential read and up to 530MB/s of sequential write performance with aforementioned 100k/95k IOPS random write and read performance.

The new Vector Series SSDs also come with TRIM and Idle Time Garbage Collection performance optimizations and are bundled with Acronis cloning software registration key and 3.5-inch desktop adapter.

Although the official price has not been announced a quick check at our favorite price search engine shows that it sells for around €150 for the 128GB one, around €270 for the 256GB version and around €500 for the 512GB version. In case you are coming from the USA, Newegg.com currently lists it at US $159.99, $289.99 and $569.99 with free shipping for all three models.

All we need now are some reviews to see how well does it actually perform against the Sandforce-based competition.

We stumbled upon a rather sweet deal in Europe where OCZ's Petrol SSD sells for as low as €0,50 per GB. Of course, OCZ Petrol is not a high-end SSD, but it is still way faster than any HDD.

Mindfactory.de, one of pretty good retailers/e-tailers in Europe is currently listing the 256GB OCZ Petrol SSD for as low as €129.99. Back when it was initially launched and available in Europe, it was selling for a rather steep €154,90 for the 128GB version, but now it looks like a great deal.

In case you missed it, the OCZ Petrol uses Indilinx Everest controller and it is available in 64, 128, 256 and 512GB capacities. It has sequential read and write speeds of up to 370 MB/s and 250MB/s with up to 34K random read IOPS. The difference between the Octane and Petrol is in the choice of NAND flash chips, while Octane uses synchronous NAND, Petrol sticks with cheaper asynchronous NAND flash chips.

If you are wondering about the rest of the lineup, the 64GB one is currently listed in Europe with a lowest price set at €53,90 for the 64GB one, €86,71 for the 128GB model and €449,98 for the top 512GB one.

You can check out the rest of the listings here and you can find the Mindfactory.de one here.

Following the recent introduction (in April) of Vertex 4 SSDs based on the new Indilinx Everest 2 controller, OCZ has now rolled out the fourth generation of its mid-range Agility solid state drives.

Based on the same Indilinx Everest 2 controller paired up with 2Xnm synchronous MLC NAND chips, up to 1GB of DRAM cache, the new Agility 4 will be available in 64, 128, 256 and 512GB capacities and offer sequential read and write speeds of up to 400MB/s and 400MB/s. The write speed drops with capacity so the 128GB will max out at 300MB/s while the 64GB one drops down to 300/200 MB/s for read and write.

The random 4k read and write IOPS is set at up to 48k and 85k for the 256 and 512GB models. The 128GB one will max out at 58k and 72k while the 64GB one drops down to 46k and 47k IOPS.

Since it is based on the new Indilinx Everest 2 controller, the new Agility 4 SSD lineup features ECC correction, 256-bit AES-compliant data encription, SATA 6Gbps interface, TRIM and Indilinx nDurance 2.0 technology.

The entire series is backed by a 3-year warranty amd have already hit retail/e-tail in Europe with a price tag set at €74 for the 64GB, €120 for 128GB, €225 for the 256GB version and €490 for the 512GB version.

When it first showed up at Cebit we were quite eager to see OCZ and Indilinx first high-end SSD, and with Everest 2 controller, it certainly looked like OCZ is on the right path. The wait is finally over and by the looks of it, OCZ's fourth-generation of Vertex drives will shake things up a bit.

Sandforce was a big player on the market with its controllers and Intel wasn't going anywhere. We kind of hoped that OCZ could score big with this one as competition will certainly be good for consumers and price per GB of SSD storage will definitely go down.

OCZ has now officially launched its Vertex 4 SSD based on new Indilinx/OCZ Everest 2 controller. The new Vertex 2 will be available, at least for now, in 128, 256 and 512GB capacities. The new Everest 2 controller brings SATA 6Gbps interface, Ndurance 2.0 tech with reduced write amplification without compression, advanced multi-level ECC, adaptive NAND flahs management and redundant NAND array technology, as well as, auto-encryption and AES-256 support, advanced ECC engine and superior flexibility with extensive NAND compatiblity.

All three currently launched Vertex 4 models, will use 25nm synchronous MLC NAND chips combined with 1GB of DDR3-800 cache, but the drive will use either 256, 512 or full 1GB of cache depending on the model. According to the spec list, the 128GB model has maximum read and write speeds set at 535MB/s and 200MB/s with random read and write IOPS at 90 and 85k. The max IOPS is set at 120k. The next in line is the 256GB model with 535MB/s and 380MB/s max read and write transfer speeds while random read and write IOPS is set at same 90 and 85k.

The current flagship 512GB Vertex 4 model has max sequential read and write transfer speeds of up to 535MB/s and 475MB/s while IOPS is the same as on other two models.

According to some of the first online reviews it looks like OCZ's Vertex 4 has a bright future indeed. The performance is certainly there and no other currently available drive can touch it. There are few kinks that OCZ has already promised to fix with a firmware update, and we honestly hope they will.

The price was certainly a piece of information that has surprised us the most. We were expecting insane pricing as this is, after all, high-performance SSD, but apparently, pricing is pretty much in line with Intel's 520 SSD. The 128GB Vertex 4 will launch with US $179 MSRP, while 256GB and 512GB one should hit retail/e-tail with US $349 and US $699 price tags. We were told that we are looking at a hard launch here and drives should be available pretty soon.

The price is still over $1 per GB but then again we are still talking about high-end SSD with impressive performance.

You may, or may not, have noticed the cute little countdown banner on top of our site that is counting down to the official launch of OCZ's latest Vertex 4 SSD, and within an hour we'll have the set of full official specs and details, but for now we'll stick to the information that we managed to overhear.

The Vertex 4 has already been seen at this years Cebit show and with second generation Indilix controller it was certainly a star of OCZ's Cebit showcase. With Indilinx Everest 2 controller and promises of up to 550MB/s transfer speeds and up to 90k IOPS, we were definitely interested in this one, but OCZ kept it quite hidden. Finally, the wait is over and OCZ's Vertex 4 will launch today.

We'll leave the final details when the new Vertex 4 is officially launched, but we can shed some info before the launch. Initially, the Vertex 4 will launch in 128, 256 and 512GB capacities and although we still don't have precise info, we've heard that max read and write transfer speeds as well as IOPS numbers will be quite impressive.

Another good piece of information is that we are looking at a hard launch with this one and that we'll be surprised with suggested retail pricing. This means that you'll actually be able to buy the drive right after the official launch (in next 15 minutes or so) as it has already shipped to retail/e-tail shops.

Be sure to tune back in for some official details regarding the new OCZ Vertex 4 SSD series and we certainly hope that we'll see a review or two soon.

At CES 2012 in Las Vegas, OCZ is showcasing its newest Indilinx Everest 2 SSD platform. It is still nothing to get excited about, as the actual products should be available in six months, or June 2012.

As you can remember, the original Everest platform, the one found in OCZ's Octane SSD, was launched two months ago and OCZ is already talking about the next one that will aim more at high-end SSD products due to its significatnly improved small block performance and according to Anandtech, reduced write amplification.

According to Anandtech, OCZ's Indilinx Everest 2 platform will have a target perfromance of around 550MB/s sequential read and 500MB/s sequential write while the random 4KB write is set at 90K IOPS.

Currently, the platform looks impressive and it surely packs enough punch to be a part of OCZ's future Vertex lineup.

OCZ has recently officialy launched its second SSD series based on the new "in-house" Indilinx Everest controller, the Petrol SSD. In addition to the official US pricing we decided to check around some EU shops to see how much cheaper is the Petrol when compared to the flagship Octane, based on the same controller.

In case you missed it, the OCZ Petrol will be available in 64, 128, 256 and 512GB capacities, and has sequential read and write speeds of up to 370 MB/s and 250MB/s with up to 34K random read IOPS. The difference between the Octane and Petrol is in the choice of NAND flash chips, while Octane uses synchronous NAND, Petrol will stick with cheaper asynchronous NAND flash chips.

According to official details, the Petrol should be priced at US$ 89.99, $149.99, $339.99 and $649.99 for the 64, 128, 256 and 512GB models, which is about US $50, US $30 and US $240 cheaper when compared to Octane (for 128, 256 and 512GB models, as Octane series doesn't include a 64GB unit).

The pricing in Europe is a bit different as the Petrol is around €30, €15 and €180 cheaper than Octane. Of course, this is compared at Alternate and you might find it cheaper at some other e-tail/retail shop. The 64GB Petrol SSD is listed at €96,90 and might hit a price sweet spot for some.

The Petrol SSD series sounds like a good "cheaper" option in case you aren't aiming for much higher read speeds on the Octane. Of course, we are still waiting to see some benchmarks of the new addition to the Indilix Everest family.